Develop Better Shipping Plans

4. Get current carriers’ management reports. Carriers typically don’t offer these unless you ask for them, but in them you’ll find a treasure trove of information about your account. These reports generally show year-to-date package volume and billings (revenue) by month this year and last year.

5. Get the credit you’re due. It’s getting harder to collect on errors from carriers. So set up a program to audit freight bills and service-failure refunds. Carriers may negotiate out your ability to audit their bills electronically by limiting the size of batches or reducing discounts. But you can hire specialists who will work on a gain-share basis to help you achieve some savings.